14 October 2011

Contest entry: Time for toilet to tap

Goal: Give the best example of the end of abundance in water and how people addressed the problem.

DW writes:

When imported water began to become too scarce and expensive, the city of San Diego was convinced by a group of environmentalists and urban planners to begin exploring the idea of repurifying and reusing wastewater as a new potable water supply. That concept has evolved into indirect potable reuse and the city is now conducting a proof of concept pilot project that will eventually result in major salvaging and reuse of our wastewater supply. That may eventually turn into a semi-closed loop system where we drink, then repurify and recycle much of our ongoing water supplies. Hopefully this will result in far less demand for imported water in our region. It took more than ten years to get the media and some members of the public over a "toilet to tap" fear mentality, but recent polls show that the concept is now accepted by a majority of survey participants. Other entries: TEoA in Mexico CityWyoming's big flowsHarvesting rainwater in BrazilThe Great Lakes wake-up call